


A Love Story in Four Acts

by Inell



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Accents, Accents Written Out, F/F, Future Fic, HP: EWE, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, Originally written in 2009
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 09:27:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7309483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inell/pseuds/Inell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things do not change; we change ~ Henry David Thoreau</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Love Story in Four Acts

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Written for sweetcarolanne at hpvalensmut and posted in 2009

Act I: Christmas 2003

  
  
Molly was becoming a pain in the arse. While Hermione was very relieved that the woman who had become a mother to her accepted her sexuality, she was tired of being set up. The worst part, more than Molly’s interfering and attempts to ‘help her find someone’, was that the women weren’t even usually lesbians. A majority seemed confused when they realized that _she_ was their intended date. The rest just wanted to meet her because her name was in the Daily Prophet regularly or they were caught up in all that ‘Hero of the War’ nonsense. The worst wanted to seduce her as if she was some sort of novelty that they could then discuss in the gossip section of Witch Weekly.  
  
There had only been one woman in the last five years of ‘helpful Molly’s antics’ that was truly interested in women. Her interest didn’t extend to a workaholic with bad hair and curvy hips, however. Molly’s heart was in the right place, but she really needed to stop. Hermione wasn’t necessarily interested in a relationship at the moment, not when she had recently transferred to Magical Law and had years’ worth of studying and work ahead of her, but, when she was ready, she hoped that she’d be able to find someone on her own. Maybe she could let it slip that Percy was single again. Then, Molly’d have another target.  
  
She considered the pros and cons of that plan as she snuck upstairs to the bedroom that she was using for the holidays. For a moment, she considered making an excuse to go home to her own flat for some much needed peace and quiet, but she knew that Molly enjoyed having her here during Christmas, so she didn’t give in to that temptation. She could hear Molly calling out to her, but she had no interest in making small talk with Delilah or Delia or whatever the woman’s name was. Another straight one who had no idea that Molly meant to set her up with a daughter instead of one of her many sons. She sighed as she entered the bedroom and started to walk to the bed. After only a handful of steps, she found herself unable to move. A quick survey of her surroundings located the culprit: magical mistletoe. In her bloody bedroom.  
  
George was going to suffer painfully if this was one of his tricks. He usually knew better than to try to prank her, since she, unlike most his friends and family, actually _did_ get him back. It was his product, though, and she couldn’t think of anyone else who would go to the trouble. Besides, she had been whinging to him just that morning about his mother’s misguided matchmaking efforts. She growled just because it made her feel better then reached for her wand. She’d have to try to figure out how to break the charm so that she could lie on her bed and scream into a pillow and basically act many years younger than twenty-four because it had just been that kind of day.  
  
“Eet ees mistletoe, ‘ermione. You need a kiss, not a wand.”  
  
The soft voice came from behind her. She lowered her wand and slowly turned to find Gabrielle Delacour leaning against the doorframe. Bloody buggering hell. If it hadn’t been bad enough before now, this just made it worse. Gabrielle. The mistletoe. It all started to make sense. Terrible sense, but sense nonetheless. “Gabrielle, what did you do?” she asked patiently, trying to remember that she was speaking to a spoiled sixteen year old and not someone who seemed to care about her actions and consequences.  
  
“Eet ees just a kiss, ma petite,” Gabrielle said as she took a step closer. Hermione found it patronizing to be called ‘little one’ by someone eight years younger, but she didn’t say anything right now. Instead, she tried to figure out how to solve this problem without hurting Fleur’s little sister.  
  
“It’s just a kiss that isn’t willingly given,” she pointed out. “We talked about this yesterday. I haven’t changed my opinion on it overnight.”  
  
Gabrielle scowled and somehow still managed to look pretty. It had to be the part-veela because Fleur did that, too. Hermione found it annoying, though she was also slightly envious of the ability. She tried to remember when she was sixteen, what it felt like to have a crush and to want something so badly that it felt like the world might just end if she didn’t get it. Her crush had been on Ron, and she had never really wanted to kiss him so badly that she’d have forced it.  
  
She tried to understand why Gabrielle seemed to have chosen her as the object of her infatuation, but she couldn’t. She had recognized the signs of a possible crush a couple of years ago, but she hadn’t really paid it much attention. She only saw Gabrielle during holidays when she was visiting Fleur, so it had never seemed to be a cause of concern. Now, she wondered if she had somehow encouraged it by not discouraging it before. Gabrielle was no longer scowling, she noticed, which was probably not good.  
  
“I want to kiss you,” Gabrielle said simply. “I ‘ave, how you say, played a prank? Uncle George gives me the mistletoe when I ask, and now eet ees possible to kiss you. To ‘elp.”  
  
“You’re only sixteen, Gabrielle. You don’t even know what you want yet,” she said, trying to reason with the teenager. “When I was your age, I had a crush on a boy and thought my future would involve him. I obviously realized as I got older that I fancy women, instead. Who we are at sixteen isn’t really who we are yet. You want to kiss me because I’m the only lesbian that you know, and you want to experiment. I understand that, I really do, but I’m too old for that. You should find a girl your age, if you really want to explore your sexuality.”  
  
“No, ‘ermione. You are wrong. This ees what I want. _You_ are what I want.” Gabrielle stepped closer and smiled. “Eet ees only a kiss. I will be gentle,” she whispered before she pressed her lips against Hermione’s.  
  
Hermione couldn’t remember the last time that she’d been kissed, which meant that it was ages ago. That was the reason that she found herself parting her lips and moving her hand into Gabrielle’s hair as she kissed her back. It had to be because she couldn’t deal with the implications of it being anything else. Gabrielle moaned and moved closer, rubbing against her as she deepened the kiss. Hermione could taste honey and cinnamon as she curled her tongue around Gabrielle’s and sucked gently. It was delicious, and she wanted more.  
  
“Oh, ‘ermione. Please,” Gabrielle whimpered as their mouths parted.   
  
Hermione felt a hand on her breast, hesitantly squeezing, then Gabrielle was kissing her again. She reached up to pull Gabrielle’s arm down, holding it at her side as she moved them so that she could press Gabrielle against the door. She kissed her more deeply and moved her leg between Gabrielle’s, pressing up in a deliberate way. Gabrielle was trembling and making soft noises that didn’t sound fearful at all. When she pulled back, she let go and took a step away. “You got your kiss,” she said quietly, watching Gabrielle touch her swollen lips as she took heavy breaths. Hermione squared her shoulders and focused. “Now, run along, little girl.”  
  
“I am almost seventeen! I am not a little girl,” Gabrielle defended even as her voice shook. “Eet ees what I want. I want you to touch me. You want to! I know you do, ‘ermione.”  
  
“You’re still a child, Gabrielle. A spoiled child who thinks you can just take what you want. I’m not going to play your game. You’re too young, and I’m certainly too old to indulge in such things.” It wasn’t as easy to sound unaffected as she would have liked because the kiss had been bloody brilliant. That didn’t change the fact that it was wrong to be doing this and that Gabrielle was too young to know what she really wanted yet.  
  
“I am not a child!” Gabrielle stomped her foot and frowned. Her pale blonde hair fell around her face, and Hermione couldn’t help but think she looked beautiful, even in anger. Instead of replying, she arched a brow and looked at Gabrielle pointedly. With that one look, Gabrielle sighed and seemed to realize that she wasn’t going to succeed this time. “When I am older, you will, how you say, indulge?”  
  
Hermione shook her head. “When you’re older, you’ll have moved on to other crushes and you’ll want other things.”  
  
“No, you are wrong again, ‘ermione. I will want you. Will I have you then?” she asked stubbornly.  
  
“We’ll talk about it,” she offered finally. “I have no idea what our circumstances would be in the future, so I’m not about to make any promises. However, if you use mistletoe on me again, or anything else similar, there will be no discussion at all. Understood?”  
  
For a moment, she thought that Gabrielle might protest. Instead, she reluctantly nodded. “Eet ees a deal. I ‘ave not long to wait until I am older. Now, I ‘ave a kiss to remember.” She smiled suddenly and touched her lips again before she quickly left the bedroom.  
  
Hermione watched her leave before she shook her head. She closed the door then walked over to fall back onto her bed. While looking at the ceiling, she thought about what just happened and wondered if she’d done the right thing. Well, kissing Gabrielle was definitely _not_ the right thing, but there’d been mistletoe, so it wasn’t really her fault.   
  
She chose to ignore the fact that a chaste kiss on the cheek would have been sufficient. While she did enjoy the physical side of a relationship, she wasn’t at a point where she’d steal kisses from teenagers. Besides, Gabrielle was only sixteen. She’d probably forget all about this once she got back to school and busy with her life. There was no reason to worry about a kiss, even a not so simple one.  
  


Act II: June 2005

  
  
“We ‘ad a deal, ‘ermione. Remember? You promised.” Gabrielle smiled before she took a sip of her tea. “You do not break your promises.”  
  
“I never promised,” Hermione pointed out, resisting the urge to rub her temples. She was starting to get a headache, and she somehow doubted that it would go away soon. When Gabrielle had owled about meeting for tea, she had foolishly invited the girl over. It had been a year and a half since their kiss, after all, and they’d been corresponding since, developing a nice friendship, surprisingly enough. None of Gabrielle’s letters in the time since had indicated that her infatuation was still present, though, so she had assumed that it had faded. Apparently, she had been wrong.  
  
“Renseignment,” Gabrielle said, waving her hand in the air. “Eet ees not matter what you say, eet ees matter what you mean. I am older now. Eighteen. That ees old enough, non? I ‘ave been waiting for so long, but now I am ready.”  
  
“I don’t think that a promise is simply something to wave off as details.” She reached for a biscuit and dunked it in her tea as she tried to process everything that had happened since Gabrielle arrived. She _was_ older. She wasn’t acting as petulantly as she had with the mistletoe, but she was still too young to really know who she was or what she wanted. Hermione knew that she probably would sound condescending trying to explain that, but it had been that way for her when she was younger.  
  
“Are you scared?” Gabrielle asked curiously. “I am not, if that ees why you are worried. I ‘ave wanted you forever, ‘ermione. Now, I will ‘ave you finally. You will teach me, yes? I ‘ave been reading and know eet ees not the same as eet ees with a man, but I do not want a man. I want you.”  
  
Hermione choked on her tea. “Wait. You want to have sex? Now?”  
  
“Mais oui!” Gabrielle smiled and looked so very eager. “You will show me everything, and I will learn it all. I promise. I ‘ave wanted to taste you since I knew about such things. Now, eet ees time. Would you like to finish your tea?”  
  
“Would I like to finish my—Gabrielle, you need to slow down. I’ve only just found out that you want this. I said that we’d talk about it. I never said that we’d do anything or that I’d teach you.”  
  
“If eet ees not you, I will ‘ave to go find someone else. Some odd English woman who will ‘urt me and not make it good. You do not want that, do you, ‘ermione?”  
  
“You’re doing it again. Resorting to blackmail in order to force me?” She sighed. “You might be eighteen, but you’re still a child in many ways.”  
  
“Eet ees not blackmail, whatever that ees. Eet ees simply fact. I want to ‘ave you, but, if I cannot, I will ‘ave to find someone else. I am eighteen, and I am so very ready to be a woman. I wait for you, save it for you, but you do not want me.” Gabrielle pouted as she fluttered her eyelashes. “No, I think that you do want me. You just do not want to admit it or to ‘ave me.”  
  
“You’ve never? With anyone?” Hermione shifted in her chair and took another drink of her tea as she tried to analyze and determine the appropriate course of action. She also tried not to think about the fact that this pretty young woman wanted her to take her virginity and be the first person to ever touch her or taste her. Bloody hell, this was complicated.  
  
“No. I did not want other girls, and I ‘ave never fancied boys. I want to learn from you, if you will teach me. I ‘ave waited for so very long already, ‘ermione, but I will wait longer, if you say. I am here for the summer, so there ees time. I do not want to wait, though. Will you ‘ave me?”  
  
There had to be dozens of reasons why this was wrong. The fact that she was twenty-six and knew better was certainly one of the main ones, as was the fact that Gabrielle was only eighteen and obviously didn’t know better. Still, she was a woman with needs, and Gabrielle was very beautiful and very willing. It would probably take a saint to refuse, and Hermione had never been accused of being one. Her baser needs were overruling her brain this time.  
  
“Alright,” she said as she put down her saucer and teacup. “I’ll teach you, but you’ll have to listen to me and do as I say.” It probably shouldn’t have turned her on as much as it did to think about Gabrielle obeying her.  
  
“You will? Really?” Gabrielle smiled and stood up. “Now? I want to start now. Do you want me to take off my robes? Eet ees is a pretty robe, but I want you to see me.”  
  
“We’ll go to my bedroom.” She stood up and offered her hand. “Once we do this, there’s no going back. Make sure that this is what you really want, Gabrielle.”  
  
“Oui. Eet ees. So very much.” She took Hermione’s hand and followed her upstairs. When they reached Hermione’s bedroom, Gabrielle looked around curiously. “Eet ees nice.”  
  
“I find it comfortable,” Hermione said as she watched Gabrielle. Now that they were upstairs, Gabrielle looked nervous, though still excited. She remembered what it was like the first time, and she knew that it would probably be better since Gabrielle was with her and not someone inexperienced. “Come here.”  
  
Gabrielle faced her and smiled before she stepped closer. “Eet ees real, but it feels like another dream.”  
  
“It’s not a dream,” she murmured before she kissed Gabrielle. As they kissed, she unfastened Gabrielle’s robe and pushed it down her shoulders. Gabrielle gasped into the kiss when Hermione touched her bare belly. When she pulled back, she looked at Gabrielle, taking in every detail. “You have lovely breasts. Not too big but not too small. I’m going to touch them now.”  
  
“Oui. Please, ‘ermione.”   
  
She reached up and removed Gabrielle’s brassiere before she lightly caressed her breasts. While she touched, she watched Gabrielle’s face, learning what she liked and didn’t like. “You’re sensitive,” she said softly, lightly pinching a nipple as Gabrielle moaned and swayed. “We should move this to the bed.”  
  
“I want to touch you,” Gabrielle said, reaching for her. “I ‘ave been waiting.”  
  
“You can touch me soon. For now, I’m teaching you about yourself. You need to know what you enjoy, what you like, if you ever expect your partner to please you,” she told her as she moved them to the bed. Gabrielle was listening, which was good. Hermione wanted her to enjoy this, to have a great first time that was a pleasant memory instead of a horrid one that stood up as ‘what not to do’ like her own.  
  
“Eet ees not just about me. Eet ees is also about you. You ‘ave to enjoy eet, too. I ‘ave wanted to touch your breasts and your hips and here,” Gabrielle said as she moved her hand between her own legs to lightly stroke her damp knickers.  
  
“Lie down,” Hermione said huskily, forcing her gaze away from Gabrielle’s fingers as they danced along the taut fabric. She pulled her t-shirt off and wiggled out of her jeans before she knelt on the edge of the bed. “Sex is about pleasure, but it’s also about a connection. Whether you’re with someone you love, think you love, or you just want, it’s there. Find it and explore it, and it’ll make everything more enjoyable.”  
  
“I do not understand this connection you speak of, but eet ees something that I ‘ave to learn.” Gabrielle reached for her and touched her breasts, slow and hesitant, as if she were paying homage. It was very erotic, and Hermione bit her lip as she moved beside Gabrielle.  
  
They were lying together now. Gabrielle removed Hermione’s bra and tossed it on the floor before she started to touch and lick. “Are you sure that you haven’t done this before?” she asked as Gabrielle sucked her nipple and squeezed her other breast. She reached out to touch, squeezing and twisting and listening to Gabrielle’s noises to determine what she liked most.  
  
“I ‘ave not, but I ‘ave thought of what I wanted to do with you for years,” Gabrielle admitted as she let of Hermione’s breast. She licked her lips and smiled. “Eet ees better than my dreams. Your hands are so soft, but you get rough, and eet excites me.” She moved closer and rubbed her breasts against Hermione’s as she gripped her arse and squeezed.  
  
“Lie back and enjoy. This is for you, then we’ll worry about me,” she said before she leaned down to lick Gabrielle’s breast. She sucked on her nipples, gently at first then harder, scraping her teeth against them as Gabrielle writhed beneath her. She moved her hand lower, into Gabrielle’s knickers, and she stroked her teasingly, getting her excited and even more wet as she concentrated on her breasts for now.  
  
“Oh, ‘ermione. Eet ees too much,” Gabrielle gasped as she rolled her hips and scratched Hermione’s back.  
  
“It’s just barely started,” she murmured against soft skin before she trailed kisses lower. When she reached the waistband of Gabrielle’s knickers, she eased them down and tossed them on the floor. Spreading her legs wider, Hermione leaned down and began to lick and stroke and suck until Gabrielle came with a soft cry. She kept licking, using her tongue and fingers until Gabrielle was cursing in French and whimpering, and then she sucked her clit hard, flicking it with her tongue as Gabrielle tightened around her fingers again.  
  
Hours later, Gabrielle snuggled against her on damp sheets that smelled of sex and sweat. Hermione was sore, but sated, and didn’t mind the snuggling too much. Gabrielle was a fast learner and very eager student. So much so that Hermione honestly thought she’d come more tonight than she had in years. Bloody hell. She stretched and moved her hand lazily up and down Gabrielle’s sweaty back.  
  
“Eet ees time to rest,” Gabrielle decided, yawning before she finished her statement. “I ‘ave soreness in many places.”  
  
“Definitely time to rest,” she agreed. “Later, I’ll help you with the soreness. A nice warm bath should help. Does it hurt badly?”  
  
“No. Eet feels good. You did not ‘urt me, ‘ermione.” Gabrielle kissed her slowly. “I am supposed to go ‘ome in August, but maybe I can stay. I lov-“  
  
“Shh.” Hermione reached up to cover Gabrielle’s lips with her fingers. “I don’t want to sound insulting or patronizing, Gabrielle, but you’re only eighteen. We’ve just spent hours having sex, so it’s easy to mix up emotions. Don’t say something that you’re not ready to say yet.”  
  
“You do not know what I am ready to say or not,” she said. “Eet ees insulting to be told that this is just sex, and that I am still a child to you. You are older, yes, but that does not mean you are wiser.”  
  
“I am when it comes to this.” She kissed Gabrielle’s nose and brushed her fingers through her pale hair. “I fancied myself in love with the first woman that I had sex with, but I wasn’t. I was just overwhelmed with emotions, even though the sex was terrible and not very fulfilling. I wasn’t much older than you at the time, and it took me years to really figure out who I was and to find myself.”  
  
“I am not you,” Gabrielle pointed out. “This was not just sex. I ‘ave seen your face, ‘ermione, as you came and as you held me. I do not need you to tell me lies because you are scared. I might be young, but I am not stupid.”  
  
“Don’t,” she warned. “I did this tonight because I wanted you and because I wanted you to enjoy your first time, to have good memories when I don’t. I’m not looking for a relationship, and you really do need to find yourself before trying to have one. I do care about you, Gabrielle, or I wouldn’t have been with you tonight, but don’t make it something it’s not.”  
  
Gabrielle scowled and squeezed Hermione’s breast a little harder than before but finally nodded. “I ‘ave until August. You will continue to teach me until I leave?”  
  
“Yes, I will.” She was relieved that Gabrielle wasn’t pushing and trying to make this something it wasn’t. They were friends, through the letters and various holiday meetings, and now they were lovers. In a couple of months, Gabrielle would return to France and that would be the end of it. Until then, they could enjoy each other.  
  


Act III: April 2007

  
  
Zurich was dull. Hermione normally didn’t mind when her job required her to travel, but she had been a foul mood all week. She had tried to get out and enjoy the city that she’d be in for two weeks, but nothing really worked to pull her out of her mood. Today had been the worst yet. Her colleague in the Swiss Ministry hadn’t even wanted to work with her by the afternoon.  
  
She had the most recent letter from Gabrielle in the pocket of her robes, wrinkled now from where she kept gripping it throughout the day. If she had been home, there might have been a chance to rearrange her schedule or do _something_ before Gabrielle left for an entire bloody year. As it was, she was stuck working on a case in Zurich, with no idea how to form her thoughts into words so that she could answer the letter.  
  
When she got back to her hotel, she headed to the bar instead of her room. If there was any night that warranted alcohol, this was it. As she approached the bar, she noticed a man chatting up a blonde with hair that reminded her of desperate, sweaty encounters and tender caresses. She scowled at the man and the blonde as she stroked her thumb over the letter in her pocket.  
  
“’ermione!” The blonde turned and smiled as she slid off the stool. “I ‘ave surprised you, yes?”  
  
“Gabrielle?” She blinked and stepped closer, uncertain whether she was just having a momentary daydream or not.  
  
“I ‘ave to leave tomorrow at eight, but I ‘ave tonight. Zurich ees not too far from Paris, ees eet?” Gabrielle kissed her, right there in the middle of the bar, and nipped her lip as she pulled back. “I ‘ave missed you, ma petite.”  
  
“You shouldn’t be here,” she protested, more out of habit than actual desire to be left alone.  
  
“Why not?” Gabrielle tossed her long hair over her shoulder and smiled. “Eet has been too long since I ‘ave tasted you. I did not want to leave for my studies without ‘aving you on my lips. We should go to your room, unless you want me to ‘ave you ‘ere.”  
  
“You have a long day of travel tomorrow. International Portkeys are exhausting, and you have several to catch with waits in between. You should be home making sure that you have everything packed and that all your notes are together,” she said logically. “Not here shagging me.”  
  
“My work will ‘ave me for a year. That ees long enough, with their silly contracts and programs. Tonight, I will ‘ave you.” She moved her hand down Hermione’s arse and squeezed, much more brazen now at twenty than she had been that first night two years ago.  
  
“Not here,” she whispered, noticing that the man at the bar was now leering at them both and obviously didn’t mind watching. She narrowed her gaze at him and cast a wordless hex before she took Gabrielle’s hand. “I’m up on the seventh floor. We can go up there.”  
  
Gabrielle squeezed her hand and followed. When they stepped into the lift, Hermione found herself pressed against the mirrored wall with Gabrielle’s mouth on hers. “I ‘ave not seen you in months,” Gabrielle muttered in between licks and nips of Hermione’s lips. “Now, eet will be ages before I can see you again. You will forget me and find another pretty girl to warm your bed.”  
  
“You’re not that easy to forget,” she said softly. “Besides, I have very heavy blankets and know many warming charms, so I don’t need a pretty girl.”  
  
“I am not,” Gabrielle agreed, flashing a big smile before she began to unbutton Hermione’s robes. “Eet ees important for me to go, but I ‘ave wanted to refuse. They will not agree to me traveling during my breaks. Eet ees is against their rules. Absurde! They wish to keep me prisoner ees what eet ees, ‘ermione.”  
  
“You can’t refuse. It’s a fantastic opportunity, one that you’ve been working your arse off trying to get over the last year, so you’ll go and learn lots of new information,” she said firmly. Gabrielle was twenty now, more mature than many her age, but there were still signs of the spoiled child whenever she couldn’t get her way. “You’re going to be in the middle of nowhere, Gabrielle. They’re not keeping you prisoner, they’re just being realistic regarding travel in that area.”  
  
“I ‘ate ‘ow logical you are,” she muttered before she fell to her knees and pushed Hermione’s skirt up.   
  
“Gabrielle, we’re in the lift!” Hermione glanced at the numbers and saw that they were only on the second floor.  
  
“Shh.” Gabrielle smiled as she tugged on Hermione’s knickers. She leaned forward and breathed deeply. “You smell so good,” she whispered before she flicked her tongue out and licked.   
  
Hermione reached down and tangled her fingers in Gabrielle’s soft hair as she rolled her hips forward. She stared at the numbers as they slowly lit up as the lift continued on its way to her floor. “Oh,” she gasped when Gabrielle sucked her clit and pushed two fingers into her. She spread her legs slightly, reaching up to caress her own breasts as Gabrielle teased her.  
  
When the lift arrived, they stumbled out of it. Her knickers were around her thighs and her robe was open as they hurried down the corridor to her room. Gabrielle laughed and groped her bum, nibbling on her neck while she tried to slide the keycard into the door. Finally, she managed to get it, and they entered her room. Their clothes were dropped on the floor in a path to her bed, and then Gabrielle was between her legs, driving her wild with her tongue and fingers.  
  
In the morning, Hermione woke to find the bed empty. She distantly remembered being kissed before dawn and Gabrielle whispering, but she had been exhausted and hadn’t woken fully. There was a note on the pillow beside her, and she traced the few words with her finger before she curled up into a ball. Normally, she was the one to leave or to send Gabrielle away. Their relationship, if that was the proper term for it, wasn’t predictable, but that element was generally the same.  
  
Even though she had had the best of intentions that summer, when it all began, her resolve had only lasted until Christmas. When she saw Gabrielle at the Burrow, she wasn’t surprised when they had ended up fucking beside a tree some distance from the house less than an hour later. It had happened again at Easter and again at Victoire’s birthday party that summer.   
  
Gabrielle was growing up, becoming her own person, and the letters they exchanged had created a strong friendship. The physical attraction certainly couldn’t be denied, either. It was always casual, though. Hermione never asked if Gabrielle had other lovers, and Gabrielle refused to discuss whether Hermione had other relationships. She didn’t, but she tried not to think about why random encounters with Gabrielle had replaced the urge to get out and try to meet someone to share her life.  
  


Act IV: September 2008

  
  
“I got your letter.”  
  
Hermione turned quickly and dropped her keys as she stared dumbly at the woman standing in her lounge. She blinked and closed the door that she’d just stepped through before she faced Gabrielle. “You’re back.”  
  
“Oui. This morning. They wanted me to stay longer, but I ‘ave already staryed longer than a year. Eet was time to come ‘ome.” Gabrielle smiled hopefully and took a step forward. “I ‘ad received your letter, though, before I left. Did you mean eet?”  
  
“My letter?” She felt a heavy weight in her belly when she realized what Gabrielle meant. She nodded slowly. “I meant it.”  
  
“Oh, ‘ermione. Eet ees is about time,” Gabrielle declared before throwing her hands in the air and speaking in rapid French. She stopped and shook her head. “I ‘ave been waiting for years. I did not want to ‘ear eet first in a letter, though. Will you say eet to me now?”  
  
“Writing it is easier,” Hermione admitted softly. She wasn’t entirely sure that she could say the words. It had taken her over a year to finally accept it, after all, and saying it was different than writing it. She hadn’t intended to say anything, but she had missed Gabrielle so much. She hadn’t understood how Gabrielle had become a part of her life, with their correspondence and arranged meetings here and in France, and then it was all gone. Letters were rare due to Gabrielle’s location, and she hadn’t seen her since that night in Zurich.  
  
“I will say eet first then. I ‘ave wanted to say eet for years, but you would never let me. You were not ready to ‘ear. Fleur was right, but eet was not easy to wait,” Gabrielle told her.   
  
Hermione was surprised to hear that Fleur had given advice, but it also helped because it might mean that family would accept the relationship more easily than she had feared they would. Gabrielle was twenty-one now, but she had just turned twenty-nine. In another year, she’d be thirty. “I’m too old for you.”  
  
“Bill ees older than ma soeur, and they are very happy with bebes and love,” Gabrielle said matter-of-factly. She crossed the room and took Hermione’s hand. “I am not a little girl who does not know what she wants. I ‘ave grown up, like you asked. I ‘ave traveled and learned and found myself. During all that, eet ‘as not changed, ‘ermione. I love you.”  
  
“No, you’re not a little girl anymore,” she agreed. Gabrielle smiled and squeezed her hand. “I love you, too. I’m not sure when it happened—“  
  
Two fingers covered her lips. “Eet does not matter. Eet ‘as ‘appened, and that is the important part.” Gabrielle leaned up and kissed her. “I ‘ave missed you so very much. I came ‘ere as soon as I got ‘ome. I ‘ad to know if you meant eet. I ‘ave waited a long time to ‘ear those words from you.”  
  
“I’ve missed you, too. I didn’t realize how much I would until you were gone,” she murmured against Gabrielle’s lips. “I want—no, I need you.”  
  
“You ‘ave me. You ‘ave always ‘ad me, ‘ermione.” Gabrielle kissed her again before they went upstairs to the bedroom.  
  
When they stepped into her bedroom, Hermione remembered that she hadn’t been expecting company. She hadn’t had sex in over a year, not since Zurich, even though she had tried once with very bad results. The woman hadn’t been Gabrielle, and that was when she’d had to acknowledge that her feelings had become something more over the years. She let Gabrielle go and nodded towards her bathroom. “I’ve got to use the toilet, but I’ll be right back.”  
  
“I ‘ave no plans to go anywhere,” Gabrielle assured her.  
  
“Good. That’s good.” Hermione smiled sheepishly and went into the bathroom. She used the toilet then hurriedly shaved her legs and made sure that she was ready for sex. No, it wasn’t really just sex. Not anymore. When she finished, she left her robes hanging on the door and stepped back into the bedroom.  
  
“Do you like eet?” Gabrielle asked huskily from her position on the bed. She was wearing scraps of silk and lace that barely covered her breasts and a pair of knickers no bigger than a handkerchief.  
  
Hermione felt heat spread over her body as she stared. “Yes. It’s very sexy.”  
  
“I bought eet yesterday before I returned to Europe. I saw eet and knew that I ‘ad to ‘ave eet. Yours ees on the chair.” She gestured to a pile of material on the chair by Hermione’s desk. “Will you put eet on for me?”  
  
“Now?” Hermione didn’t really understand the point in putting it on when she wouldn’t be wearing it for long. At Gabrielle’s pout, she bit her lip and nodded. “Fine. I will.”  
  
“Oh, good. I want to watch.” And she did. Gabrielle stared as Hermione took off her work clothes and stockings and tossed her rather sensible knickers and bra on the floor. She kept watching as Hermione slid the tiny knickers up her legs and smoothed the fabric down to try to cover herself, without success. They were too small, most likely deliberately, and she felt exposed when she picked up the corset.  
  
“If this is too small, it won’t even cover my breasts,” she pointed out, wiggling her bum slightly when the back of the knickers fit snuggly between her cheeks.  
  
“If eet does not, then I will use my ‘ands to do so,” Gabrielle offered, smiling angelically when Hermione arched her brow.  
  
She had never worn a corset before, but she understood how it worked. Once she got it on, she startled when Gabrielle’s hands covered hers. “It might look sexy, but it isn’t exactly comfortable.  
  
Gabrielle laughed. “Eet ees now time for me to teach you, eet seems.” She leaned down to kiss Hermione’s shoulder before she tugged on the corset and tied it. “Eet makes your breasts look ‘eavenly. I love your breasts.”  
  
“I know,” she said, moaning softly when Gabrielle dragged her fingernails lightly over her bare arse cheek. “You like my arse, too.”  
  
“Oui. Eet ees a very nice arse.” Gabrielle trailed kisses down her back and then kissed her left cheek. “Very nice.” She slapped it suddenly and chuckled. “Eet ees even better when eet ees pink from my hand.”  
  
“I’m not into that,” she warned her quietly. She didn’t want to know where Gabrielle had learned about spanking and wearing sexy lingerie, but she also couldn’t stop herself from wondering. “Other women might have been, but I’m not.”  
  
“’ermione, stop. There is no one else. Eet ‘as always been you. Do you not know that?” Gabrielle stood up and kissed her neck. “I ‘ave told you before that I ‘ave read books. You like research, so eet ees not wrong of me to ‘ave curiosity.”  
  
“I’m sorry. It’s not my place to be jealous, especially when I can’t make the same claims. There have been others,” she said honestly. Not many since that first summer, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to acknowledge what that likely meant.   
  
“I do not want to know about them. They ‘ad you in the past, but I ‘ave you now. That is better,” Gabrielle told her. “We will play later. I ‘ave no patience to wait now. Can I ‘ave you?”  
  
“Yes,” she whispered before she turned and caught Gabrielle in her arms, pulling her closer so they could kiss. They fell to the bed laughing and kissing. She felt Gabrielle unfastening the corset that she had just tied and pushing it down so she could reach Hermione’s breasts. She moved her hand into the tiny knickers that barely covered Gabrielle, finding her wet and slick already, using her fingers to tease her while they were kissing. When she pulled back, she kissed Gabrielle’s nose. “You can have me. For however long you want me, Gabrielle.”  
  
“Ees forever too long?” Gabrielle asked, smiling innocently as she squeezed Hermione’s breast and pressed down against her hand.  
  
Hermione laughed before she kissed her again. She was still a little scared, but mostly she was happy that she’d found someone to share her life with and to love. “No, not too long at all,” she murmured in between kisses.  
  
End


End file.
